Biometrics information, such as fingerprint, has been used for verification of an identity. Resource-constrained platforms, for instance a smart card having a microprocessor and a memory, are increasingly used for controlling access to confidential information. Typically, the smart card has stored within its memory a biometric information sample of the authorized user of the smart card, for instance a fingerprint image or a minutiae template determined from the fingerprint. When the authorized user of the smart card requires access, the user provides a biometric information sample in the form of a fingerprint or a minutiae template for comparison with the stored fingerprint image or the stored minutiae template. If a match is determined, the user is identified and access is granted.
The fingerprint verification and identification algorithms can be classified into two categories: image-based and minutiae-based. Minutiae-based methods are currently one of the most widely used biometrics technologies for its high accuracy.
A token based fingerprint minutiae matching system usually includes two major components: a reader and a token. The reader may be used to read the fingerprint from a sensor to construct a minutiae template using the extracted minutiae from the fingerprint image. The template may then be sent to the token for enrolment or matching. Enrolment is the process of saving certified minutiae templates and user's information into the token by authorized personnel, and matching is the process to verify a person's fingerprint with the enrolment template stored in the token. The reader can be a PC or an embedded system with a communication unit. The token, which is usually a resource-constrained platform, can be a smart card, a USB token or e.g. another portable device, etc.
For enhanced security, the verification of the input fingerprint or minutiae template may be performed by the in-card processor, instead of the external card reader. This kind of verification is called Match-On-Card since the biometric verification is executed inside the smart card. The advantage of match-on-card is that the template of the authorized user (also referred to as the enrolment template) is not released as the verification is executed on-card.
In ordinary verification system such as a PC, the verification of minutiae templates is fast. However, for match-on-card, due to the limitation in the manufacturing and in the size, the resource constrained token usually does not provide sufficient processing power, and therefore the match-on-card is time-consuming.
There is a need to accelerate the matching of templates, such that a matching device having low-end processing power is able to perform the templates matching in a reasonable time period.